WASHINGTON (AP) — Scores of House Republicans are heading to the White House for a meeting Wednesday with President Barack Obama to demand trillions of dollars in spending cuts as the price for approving any increase in the government’s power to borrow.
The meeting comes on the heels of a symbolic and lopsided vote Tuesday against a GOP proposal to lift the cap on the so-called debt limit by $2.4 trillion.
Democrats say the vote was aimed more at giving tea party-backed Republicans an opportunity to broadcast a “nay” vote against the Obama administration’s view that any increase in U.S. borrowing authority should be done as a stand-alone measure uncomplicated by difficult spending cuts to programs like Medicare.
A more painful vote to raise the debt ceiling looms for Republicans this summer.
